Small Talk

On the 24th of May 2017, Taiwan’s top court ruled in favour of marriage equality, making Taiwan the first in Asia to legalise gay marriage. Upon the outbreak of this news, Taiwanese director Huang Hui-Chen shared a heartwarming sentiment on her Facebook page stating, “love will always find a way.”

Huang was a political activist before she began making documentary films; she rose to fame after her feature film, Small Talk, premiered at the 53rd Golden Horse Film Festival. Small Talk is a riveting documentary that comprises of sit-down interviews that take place between Huang and her estranged lesbian mother, A-nu. When Huang gave birth to a daughter of her own in 2012, she felt further compelled to repair her alienating relationship with her mother. Despite the two living under the same roof, they co-exist as strangers with little to no human interaction.

At times, the documentary is filled with long silences and an uncomfortable tension. With each talk, Huang probes her mother who reluctantly begins to reveal layers of her past. Beyond these emotion-driven conversations, the film also consists of interviews with A-nu’s previous and present lovers, her siblings, and a few home videos that were shot over the past two decades. The film adds an extra level of intrigue for viewers who journey along with Huang, an open-minded heterosexual daughter who is desperately trying to connect with her evasive homosexual mother.

At the beginning of 2017, Small Talk was awarded Best Documentary at the Teddy Awards in Berlin, casting a warm spotlight on LGBTIQ families in Taiwan. Small Talk not only offers viewers an intimate insight into rural Taiwanese culture but also into the fragile relationship that exists within Huang’s family, and that is what makes the film so universally relevant.